About me

A little about me and why this blog:

I am a passionate follower of THE Master Carpenter, Jesus, and that passion has spilled over into my writing. I have been a believer since about 1970 but, sad to say, only now a true earnest follower since the summer of 2012. Before then, I was one who followed God at a distance, trying to obey out of fear of God (which is a good thing and VERY Biblical but not very fulfilling) and duty…that’s what a Christian is supposed to do, right? Now I follow out of love for Him and what He did for me on the Cross.

I am a journeyman cabinetmaker, over 40 years in the trade with 37 years in my own sole proprietor cabinet shop, Heritage Crafted Interiors, where I build custom wood products: cabinets, furniture, and weird stuff others say can’t be done.

I also have another business, Affordable Binding Equipment, where I build hand bookbinding equipment that I sell over the internet. I have sold all over the US, and many other countries. As a brag point, I sold 2 custom pieces to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I also build custom equipment, something that no other seller of binding equipment will do and I sell a range of equipment no one in the world sells in one place, like 2 different types of letterpress printing presses.

I have been married to my sweet wife for 39 years, and have 2 grown sons.

We live in the middle of Calif., in a city that has been ravaged by bankruptcy, foreclosures, crime and over 100 gangs, in a neighborhood that is slowly going bad…New Years eve a few years ago sounded like videos of the Iraq war, weapons fire went on for about 60 minutes. It’s scary to know that around us there are that many automatic weapons in the hands of people so irresponsible.

There is no way I can convey all that I have seen or what has happened in and to me, here in this blog. So what you will read are the highlights, the view from my perspective what following the Master entails, and the rich patina left after the Master Craftsman has laid His tools and hands on my life. This blog came from years of writing that I felt a wider audience could benefit from. Some of these are from emails and letters sent for a specific purpose and others are what welled up within me, things I couldn’t not write. I work alone and there are times I take notes while I am working (sometimes spending more time at that than working) and then compile them later.

But one of the main reasons I started this blog is for my grandchildren and their children. I wish I knew what my grandfathers were like. They died young and never got to ask about the “old days” or absorb what they believed. My dad didn’t leave anything written for future generations. All I have is an old baseball glove and some pictures. What I envision is someday, one of my grand-kids will ask, “Papa, what did Grandpa believe?” And the answer will be, “Well, let’s go on his blog and find out.”

I am a voracious reader and there are times the Master uses someone else’s thoughts to convict me and I cement it in words. I will share about some of these books and why you should read them. My list is short indeed compared to all the books I have read but there are just some that have to be read by every believer in Jesus.

I am not an expert wordsmith, my sentences may not work right, punctuation errors and misspellings might happen (in spite of shpelllchekr), my ramblings may not exactly make sense or be polished to your satisfaction, and most of them I am told are too long for a blog post, but I do hope that you will show grace/mercy, and in doing so, just maybe, something here will inspire you or convict you.

I will also share from my over 45 year collection of short pithy sayings, wise and otherwise, things that I heard or read that grabbed my attention. I have scrapbooks full of these. Some are witty, some are hard and convicting. My hope is that you will also see them as truths for life and use them as you can, for yourself and others. I have VERY few references where these came from, so if I know, I will list that. If there is no listing of author, then I have no idea and take no credit for them. I did make up a few myself, compiling ideas into a short sentence.

On another topic, I started a journal of woodworking tips and tricks that I have learned over the years I have been in the cabinet-making trade. Some of these I have learned from magazines, some from observation of others and some from problem solving on my own. I had a 97yo friend die recently who was a master cabinetmaker (not a title but in reality). All he had learned is now gone, forever. So I figured the little I know can be passed on to others in hopes that I can help them not make the mistakes I have made and make their woodworking craft a little easier and more fulfilling.

I am not a theologian nor do I claim any special inspiration or revelation for what you will read here. You may not agree with what I say. I hope it’s because you feel I got it wrong, and not because you felt convicted and don’t wish to hear what I have to say. You will find some hard things here, some convicting words, some self exposure (especially from a recent total change of who I am) and maybe even some humor.

What is shared here is not just something I have written in haste in a few thoughtful minutes but they have sometimes taken hours and/or days to finish. And when I’m done, I still wonder if it’s finished. Some (most?) will be rather long…please forgive me…and others will be short. But I hope that as you read, you will be drawn deeper into His service as His apprentice/follower, always learning, always listening, always following close to the Master, observing what tools He selects for what purpose, how tenderly He holds them, what love and compassion He uses to mold the object of His affections, how He grimaces with pain in His hands as He causes pain in His beloved to make you and me more like Himself.

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Thank you brother for sharing your thoughts. I came to your site looking for the complete text of C. S. Lewis’ quote: “Pain plants the flag of reality in the fortress of a rebel heart.” God has indeed blessed “us” as humanity, with people who can distill a entirety of feeling and emotion into a few short words. We call them poets or wordsmiths. God calls them his children, like the rest of us. Please do not shrink from your Sprit-filled pursuit of sharing your wisdom and God’s leading with a hungry world.
God Bless!
Patrick

Thanks for your kind words. Though I’m not one for “a few short words” as evidenced by some of my posts are in 3 parts, I have a huge passion for the Body of Christ and Her Holiness and correcting some of the world’s encroachment into Her thinking.
I mainly started this as a lasting legacy for my grandchildren, on down. “Daddy, what did grandpa care about, what did he believe, what did he think about?” “well, son, let’s logon and see…..” When I die and someone trashed this computer, all my writing disappears. Not now!
I hope there is something here that edifies and provokes thought and a returning to Biblical roots of theology and behavior. So much of what the church has to offer today is just gussied up world material with some fancy religious terms thrown in to make it churchy.
(I feel a long blog coming on so I will stop here!)
Jim
Have a great day and hope that your reading of this words does something worthwhile in your heart.